


Bonehumble

by JCMorrigan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, But Sans and Papyrus are the only ones swapped, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Or do if you really want, POV Second Person, Papyrus judges you at the end of Genocide, There's nothing you can do about this, Undertale Genocide Route, You are Frisk, swap au, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25047376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCMorrigan/pseuds/JCMorrigan
Summary: The monsters of the mountain are all dead in your wake. Now you must be judged by the skeleton at the end of the golden hall.***A very simple AU in which Papyrus replaces Sans in Judgment Hall at the end of the Genocide Route.
Relationships: Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Frisk & Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Bonehumble

**Author's Note:**

> I needed this.

Here you are, in Judgment Hall, among the golden colonnades, and your sins are crawling down your back.

Was it you? Or was it that other voice in your head, the one that gets stronger every time you look in a mirror? The one that tells you what you think about everything you see?

It was your hand. The voice is only that strong because of what your hand did.

You’ve killed everyone.

And why? Because you wanted to see what would happen. Like anyone would. Is that the truth? No – the truth is, you hurt the first Froggit. You hurt the first Froggit and you felt so bad, but there was a permanent black mark on your record that you couldn’t erase.

So you leaned into it. You struck and you slashed and you pulled the trigger, and now everyone’s dead because that’s all you’re good for, all you were ever good for. They kept reminding you, every step of your journey, and with everyone who you saw your impact on, the grieving, the angry, the horrified –

It didn’t stop you. It just reminded you of the filth you are. So you cut them down too.

In your defense, the warrior woman with one eye was about to kill you anyway, and there was no stopping her. The scientist loved the warrior, and you felt they needed to be together in whatever comes after this, if that’s anything. Toriel walked in on you crying over the Froggit and you panicked. You knew Flowey wouldn’t let you forget that – he never would, not even if you reset the timeline a hundred rounds over. Mettaton? That one was also self-defense – right? Or were you just so jaded by that point…?

And the comic. Sans. After Toriel, he was the first one you decided to destroy. The one you premeditated on. Because you could feel him judging you. Somehow, he knew without you having to say it. You were tainted, scum, bloody-handed, a predator, unforgivable –

You destroyed him the moment he opened his mouth to call you out. Because you couldn’t stand to hear it.

He had a brother. A brother who escaped. To be honest, you haven’t stopped worrying about him since Snowdin. Is he waiting to spring upon you like a predator in hiding, taking his revenge? You actually almost liked him. He was kind and friendly to you. He wanted you to eat spaghetti with him, and you ended up on that very embarrassing play-“date” that really just enforced how pure and innocent he was. And that’s why you don’t like him. Because if he knew what you were, which by now, he surely must –

They say speak of the Devil and he will appear, but you’ve just spoken of an angel and he stands before you, tall in the hall. An avenging angel, ready to dole out his judgment.

“HUMAN?” Papyrus asks. “IS THAT YOU?”

You clutch the toy knife behind your back, its blade parallel to your spine. He’s going to die on its point.

“AH, I SEE IT IS,” Papyrus realizes. “OR…IS IT? I DON’T KNOW. SOMETHING ABOUT YOU SEEMS DIFFERENT.”

The voice is urging you, over and over: do it! Stab him! Kill him! It’s all we’re good for!

“It’s me,” someone says through your mouth. You’re not sure which of you said it.

“AH,” Papyrus replies. “I THINK WE HAVE A FEW THINGS TO TALK ABOUT. YOU SEE, I CAN’T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT QUITE A FEW MONSTERS HAVE GONE MISSING WHEREVER YOU’VE BEEN.”

You go cold. Why does guilt still eat at you, after all this time? No – guilt is the fire that feeds you. The more guilt you feel, the sharper your blade becomes.

“IF SANS WERE HERE,” Papyrus goes on, “HE WOULD PROBABLY ATTEMPT TO TELL ME THAT ALL OF MY FRIENDS WERE ON VACATION. HE THINKS HE CAN SHELTER ME LIKE THAT. BUT I KNOW BETTER. THEY’RE GONE, AREN’T THEY? YOU DID IT.”

Why is it taking you so damn long to just whip out the knife?

“YOU GET IT BY NOW, DON’T YOU?” Papyrus explains. “THE ‘LV.’ IT STANDS FOR YOUR ‘LEVEL OF VIOLENCE.’ AND THE ‘EXP’ YOU GAIN ARE ‘EXECUTION POINTS.’ YOU GET STRONGER EVERY TIME YOU…GET RID OF SOMEONE.”

You’re shaking.

“AND YOU’VE GOTTEN RID OF THEM ALL. ALL EXCEPT FOR ME AND ASGORE.”

You’re not just shaking; you’re breaking.

“I’M HERE TO JUDGE YOU, HUMAN,” Papyrus says calmly. Is he still smiling? How can you even tell? He’s a static skull. He always looks like that. If he had lips and brows, you could see how disappointed he is in you.

But you remember those silly puzzles he put you through, and the snowman he built, and this is the most difficult of all, because he really wanted to be your friend. Maybe you can save that –

No. It’s too late. He knows what you’ve done.

“IF YOU KEEP GOING ON LIKE THIS,” Papyrus says, “THEN THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW…IT MIGHT MEAN THE END OF THIS WORLD. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS, BUT IT’S TRUE. IT’S A TRUTH I LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO. AND THEN THERE WILL BE NO GOING BACK.”

You’re crying. The voice forces you to brandish the knife.

“AH,” Papyrus says. “I SEE. THEN YOU’VE LEFT ME WITH ONLY ONE CHOICE.”

He approaches you. This is it. He’s going to fight you to the death. Only one of you will leave this hall alive.

And it’s going to be you.

So you draw back the knife but he’s kneeling down, offering a hand toward you, and you think at first that he’s summoning that Special Attack of his but he’s not. It’s just a hand in an oversized red mitten.

“I FORGIVE YOU,” he says. “THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO STOP THIS, AND THAT’S IF YOU CHOOSE TO BE BETTER. IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT, THEN I WILL HELP YOU BECOME BETTER. MAYBE EVEN A HERO! YOU COULD HAVE A REALLY SWEET REDEMPTION ARC THAT EVERYONE WOULD LOVE! THAT’S HOW A LOT OF THE GREATEST HEROES START OUT.”

What? No. No, you don’t deserve this. The voice is louder than ever: kill him kill him KILL HIM –

“I SUSPECT YOU MAY WANT TO KILL ME,” he goes on. “I GUESS THIS ISN’T VERY SMART, IS IT? WELL…I ALWAYS DID LIKE A GOOD PUZZLE, AND SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO GUESS DUMB ANSWERS BEFORE YOU FIND THE RIGHT ONES. AND I REALLY DON’T SEE ANY OTHER WAY.”

Your voice comes out, hoarse and dry, fighting the other for dominance: “You could fight me.”

“HMM…NO,” Papyrus answers. “BECAUSE I THINK WE BOTH KNOW HOW THAT ENDS. AND I REALLY, TRULY, HONESTLY THINK YOU COULD BE BETTER IF YOU TRIED, STARTING NOW. YES, THERE ARE GOING TO BE CONSEQUENCES FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE, BUT WOULDN’T IT BE BETTER TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITH THOSE CONSEQUENCES THAN IN NO WORLD AND NOT HAVE THOSE CONSEQUENCES?”

No, no, no –

“I REALLY THINK YOU CAN STOP, IF YOU WANT TO,” Papyrus tells you earnestly. “YOU AND I WERE GETTING ALONG VERY WELL BACK IN SNOWDIN. I THINK WE COULD BE FRIENDS, IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO KILL ME. AND I BELIEVE IN YOU. YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO. YOU CAN SAVE THE WORLD, OR YOU CAN DESTROY IT. BUT I HAVE FAITH YOU’LL MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!”

The voice goes dead silent, leaving a sensation akin to radio static. The plastic knife clatters to the tile.

And the next thing you know, you’re in his bony arms, sobbing your SOUL out. He holds you gently enough not to harm you, with all the hard surfaces he’s made up of, but tightly enough that you feel protected. Which you need, because right now, you feel like you’re nothing at all, a loose and floating mass of toxic ooze that’s barely held together.

He can tell. He repositions you in his arms, stands up with you in them. After all, you are a child, even if that doesn’t forgive what you’ve done. It does mean, however, that he’s very easily able to carry you.

The voice in your head is crying in harmony with you.

“IT’S ALL RIGHT,” Papyrus tells you. “WELL…NO, IT’S NOT ALL RIGHT. YOU’VE DONE SOME VERY BAD THINGS. I WILL ALWAYS MISS SANS, LET ME TELL YOU. BUT THAT’S IN THE PAST. LET’S START OVER, ALL RIGHT?”

You barely manage to tell him “Mm-hmm.”

“THERE’S ONE LAST CHALLENGE AHEAD,” he tells you. “IT WON’T BE EASY. BUT IF WE WORK TOGETHER, I THINK YOU’LL BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE MOUNTAIN AND GO BACK HOME TO YOUR FAMILY.”

Strange to think you want that, given the reasons you jumped down here in the first place.

“I HOPE YOU’LL REMEMBER ME AND TELL ALL YOUR OTHER FRIENDS ABOUT ME. AFTER ALL, I LIKE TO THINK WE ARE FRIENDS.”

You don’t deserve this. You deserve so much worse. But you know if you go down that road again, it will end in more blood.

“DO YOU WANT TO GO NOW?” Papyrus asks. “ONLY WHEN YOU’RE READY.”

You’re not ready, but you never will be, so you tell him, “I want to go home.”

He doesn’t loosen his hold or put you down. He turns to the great doors that lead to Asgore’s chamber.

“THEN LET’S GO TOGETHER.”


End file.
